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Insightful Analysis and Commentary for U.S. and Global Equity InvestorsTue, 20 Mar 2018 02:27:41 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngGT – 24/7 Wall St.https://247wallst.com
Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Chevron, GM, Intel, Merck, Nokia, Under Armour and Morehttps://247wallst.com/investing/2017/10/30/top-analyst-upgrades-and-downgrades-amd-chevron-gm-intel-merck-nokia-under-armour-and-more/
Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:05:57 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=422574Stocks were indicated to open lower on Monday after hitting all-time highs last week. With the bull market now nearing nine years old, the one trend that has prevailed for more than five years now without fail is that investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every market sell-off. Those same investors are also hunting for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these daily analyst reports and research notes cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Monday, October 30, 2017.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was down 1.4% at $11.84 on Friday and was indicated down 4% at $11.35 on Monday, and AMD was up at $14.25 last week before earnings. The stock was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with an $8 price target at Morgan Stanley. The shares have a 52-week trading range of $6.22 to $15.65, and the prior consensus analyst target price was $14.28.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) closed down 4.1% at $113.54 on Friday after earnings. Chevron was reiterated as Buy with a $137 target price at Jefferies. The firm said that Friday’s 4% drop following its earnings release represents a buying opportunity in an oil giant poised for both significant production growth and a major inflection in its cash cycle. Chevron has a 52-week range of $102.55 to $120.89 and a consensus price target of $122.57.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was down 1.3% at $44.64 on Friday and was indicated down 3.3% at $43.16 on Monday. Goldman Sachs downgraded GM shares to Sell from Neutral with a $32 price target. The 52-week range is $30.21 to $46.76, and the consensus price target is $46.35.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $58 price target (versus a $44.40 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets. This is after Intel saw numerous target hikes after beating and earnings and as shares broke out to new 17-year highs. Intel now has a 52-week range of $33.23 to $45.00 and a consensus price target of $44.74.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) was down 6% to $58.24 on Friday, and shares were indicated down another 3.6% at $56.12 on Keytruda weakness and downgrades. Merck was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, noting a lack of meaningful upside after Keytruda. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded Merck to Hold from Buy, and Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating to Equal Weight from Overweight. Merck had a prior 52-week range of $57.82 to $66.80, and it had a consensus price target of $69.35.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) was up 3% at $4.91 on Friday, but that was after a 21% post-earnings drop to $4.76 on Thursday. Nokia was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus on Monday, with the firm noting worsening challenges ahead for Nokia. It has a 52-week range of $4.04 to $6.65 and had a consensus price target of $6.15.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price objective was slashed to $12 from $21 at Merrill Lynch. Shares were down 2% at $16.04 on Friday and were indicated down 4% more at $15.55 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $15.75 to $33.45 and with a consensus price target of $18.40.

Follow @Jonogg on Twitter to receive the daily analyst calls and other market research calls directly on your feed.

Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

]]>ALNYAMDCAGCELGCENXCVXGMGTINTCJCPJDLEGMMRKNOKODPPUAVNDAXOMAdministratorTop Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amex, ADP, Goodyear, McDonald’s, National Oilwell Varco, NVIDIA, Vivint Solar and Many Morehttps://247wallst.com/investing/2017/06/20/top-analyst-upgrades-and-downgrades-amex-adp-goodyear-mcdonalds-national-oilwell-varco-nvidia-vivint-solar-and-many-more/
Tue, 20 Jun 2017 12:55:43 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=398202Stocks hit all-time highs yet again on Monday and the Dow has now gone above the 24/7 Wall St. 2017 price target issued at the start of this year. The bull market may be well over eight years old now, but investors keep proving that any pullback or any period of economic uncertainty has been a buying opportunity. Those same investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas for income and gains.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning in an effort to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has also been added on most of the daily analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Tuesday, June 20, 2017.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with an $82 price target at Stephens. The stock closed up 0.5% at $81.88 on Monday and was indicated up 0.15% at $82.00 on Tuesday. Amex has a 52-week trading range of $57.15 to $82.00.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and was removed from the Conviction Buy list with a price target of $108 (versus a $104.11 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. ADP was indicated to open down 1.5% at $102.51, in a 52-week range of $85.23 to $105.68.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $39 price target at Jefferies. Goodyear closed at $33.63 on Monday and was indicated up 1.1% at $34.00 on Tuesday. Its 52-week range is $24.31 to $37.20 and the consensus analyst target price was up at $41.50.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $180 price target at Cowen. It closed up 0.7% at $153.14 on Monday and was indicated up another 0.5% at $154.00 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $110.33 to $153.90, and the consensus target price is $155.08.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $37 price target (versus a $33.58 close) at Piper Jaffray. This is a call that goes against the oil price trend, and the shares were indicated to open down 1.1% at $33.20 on Tuesday along with lower oil prices. The 52-week trading range is $29.79 to $43.63, and the consensus target price is $38.05.

NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was raised to Sector Weight from Underweight at Pacific Crest. It closed up 3.7% at $157.32 on Monday and was indicated up 0.8% more at $158.60 on Tuesday. The shares have a 52-week range of $44.57 to $168.50 and a consensus target price of $131.34.

Vivint Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: VSLR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $6 target price at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed up over 8% at $4.35 on Monday and were indicated up another 8% more at $4.70 on Tuesday. Vivint Solar had a consensus target price of $5.17. This will mark a new 52-week high, as the new 52-week range was $2.50 to $4.35 as of the prior trading day.

Credit Suisse said that its proprietary price tracker shows an industry pricing that has been volatile so far in 2017, and it favors Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) over Finish Line and Foot Locker.

You can follow @Jonogg on Twitter if you want the daily analyst calls and other research notes directly on your feed.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

]]>ADPAVYAXPBYDCAKECLVSCVRREOGGTMCDMRVLNKENOVNVDAORCLORLYPAYXPBFPHGPHHROPSPGVSLRAdministratorTop Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Analog Devices, BP, First Data, GE, Goodyear, ITW, NRG, Palo Alto and Many Morehttps://247wallst.com/investing/2017/06/01/top-analyst-upgrades-and-downgrades-analog-devices-bp-first-data-ge-goodyear-itw-nrg-palo-alto-and-many-more/
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 12:50:02 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=395487Stocks were looking for direction on Thursday after a strong ADP payrolls report but ahead of President Trump’s decision on the climate accord. With a bull market that is more eight years old, the S&P is still indicated above 2,400 and the Dow to be above 21,000. Investors have shown for years now that they will buy every big sell-off, but those same investors also are looking for new investing and trading ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Consensus analyst price targets are from the mean of the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Some additional color and commentary has been added on most of the following analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls seen on Thursday, June 1, 2017.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was up 1.1% at $85.76 after beating earnings on Tuesday and several analysts keyed in positively. On Thursday, RBC reiterated its Outperform rating and the price target was raised to $92 from $90 at RBC. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating as well and raised its target to $100 from $90. Argus raised its target to $100.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was reiterated as Buy with a $41 price target (versus a $36.15 prior closing price) at Argus. While the firm lowered its 2017 EPS target to $2.08 from $2.35 on lower margin projections for the BP refining business, Argus continues to expect higher crude oil and natural gas prices along with additional cost cuts to help.

First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $20 price target (versus a $17.13 closing price) at Stifel. It has a 52-week trading range of $9.90 to $17.13 and a consensus analyst target price of $18.66.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was maintained as Outperform at Credit Suisse and the firm has a sum-of-parts valuation of $33. The firm thinks GE is not a broken company, even if might be somewhat misunderstood. The call noted that GE’s sell-off has created an attractive entry point and the bear points (along with dividend concerns) have been overstated. Shares closed at $27.38 and have a 52-week range of $27.10 to $33.00. The consensus analyst target is $32.14.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) was raised to Overweight from Underweight with a $52 price target (versus a $32.22 close) at Morgan Stanley. It was indicated up over 5% at $34.00 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $24.31 to $37.20, and it has a consensus price target of $38.00.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was raised to Buy from Sell with a $155 price target (versus a $141.22 close) at Goldman Sachs. The 52-week range is $98.32 to $142.82, and the consensus price target of $146.28.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $16.06 close) at UBS. It has a 52-week range of $9.84 to $19.07 and a consensus target price of $20.58.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) closed up 1.4% at $118.59 on Wednesday ahead of earnings and was trading up 13% at $134.50 after earnings were ahead of estimates. Jefferies reiterated the shares as Buy and raised the price target to $155 from $150. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and $173 target.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $30 price target (versus a $25.52 close) at Citigroup. Skechers has a 52-week range of $18.81 to $32.71, and shares were indicated up more than 5% at $27.00 on Thursday.

Follow @Jonogg on Twitter to receive analyst calls and research notes directly on your feed.

The bull market is now well over eight years old, and investors are looking for new ideas for how they should be investing their money. Stocks, bonds and commodities are all frequently called out by the financial media and by analysts as being expensive. Maybe the stock market does feel expensive overall with the S&P 500 Index valued at 18 times expected 2017 earnings. That being said, investors can still find some value out there.

As of the start of May of 2017, just 21 members of the S&P 500 Index were valued at less than 10 times expected earnings per share (EPS). It is important to understand that not all “value” is created equally. In fact, seasoned value investors know that “cheap stocks” generally look that way for a reason. Many value stocks end up not being cheap at all if you consider the big picture.

There are many internal and external issues for investors to consider when it comes to value investing. A lack of growth, having spotty earnings, having temporary or long-term operating issues, or even being involved in restructurings can make all make companies look cheap when they might be nothing more than a value trap. One issue that can smooth out the trustworthiness of a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio can be the company’s dividend yield. The relative value of a share price today versus the Thomson Reuters consensus analyst price target is also used by many investors to determine if a company is overvalued or undervalued.

24/7 Wall St. has screened the stocks in the S&P 500 Index. Just 21 of the 500 companies were valued under 10 times the consensus forward EPS. This forward P/E ratio can also be misleading over what exactly “cheap” means as some industries always trade at depressed P/E ratios against the broader market. These are also adjusted earnings used by analysts and most investors, so the estimates do not include one-time and non-recurring expenses and non-operating items like stock options costs.

There are many times that financial stocks trade at or under 10 times expected earnings. Airlines and autos often have P/E ratios under 10, and currently the retail environment seems to specialize in low P/E ratios while they get Amazon’d more and more each year. Some aspects of biotech and health care are also valued under 10 times earnings due to spotty growth or to recent developments.

24/7 Wall St. used a screening tool from Thomson Reuters for P/E and forward P/E ratios, and the focal issue is companies trading at less than 10 times its next full year’s estimated EPS. The one caveat is that many companies have fiscal years that are not calendar years.

In our screening, the gain over the past year is a total return screen from FINVIZ, which should generally include dividend yields, and the numbers have been rounded to the closest percentage point. With the S&P 500 having risen 17% from a year ago, it should speak for itself with so many negative performances that value is not always cheap.

Here are the 22 stocks of the S&P 500 Index valued at less than 10 times expected earnings.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) recently found itself beating earnings estimates, but shares fell on higher labor costs. The airline industry rarely commands a high earnings multiple for a valuation, but now Warren Buffett is a major airline investor. The industry has been able to get away with almost everything regarding how it charges and treats passengers, but it is still screening as being less than 10 times earnings — but that is double what investors were valuing the industry in the past.

American Airlines has a 52-week trading range of $24.85 to $50.64 and consensus analyst target price of $54.00. The company has a market cap of $21.4 billion, and its dividend yield is 0.9%.

Being in the brick-and-mortar retail segment has been tough for this household items seller. That was not always the case, as its highly concentrated client base used to be so predictable that the company never really even had to worry about retail business cycles. That was then, and now Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) seems to be unable to recover on its own.

Bed Bath & Beyond has a consensus target price of $39.05 and a 52-week range of $37.28 to $48.83. The company has a market cap of $5.5 billion, and its dividend yield is 1.5%.

Stocks were directionless on Thursday with no major news moving the markets one way or the other. Investors proved once again this week that they want to buy any real pullbacks, even if the bull market is more than eight years old. Investors are also still looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid. Color has been added on many of these calls, and the consensus analyst price targets referenced are from Thomson Reuters.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, March 30, 2017:

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was up big on news of a key asset sale leading to higher buybacks and cutting down its debt. ConocoPhillips was raised to Buy and the price target was raised to $55 from $51 at UBS. It has a 52-week trading range of $38.19 to $53.17 and a consensus analyst price target of $57.70. Shares were up 1.26% at $45.95 on Wednesday, but the big news from the sale had shares indicated up almost 8% at $49.60 on Thursday.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs. It closed down 0.9% at $36.19 on Wednesday and was indicated down another 0.7% at $35.95 on Thursday. Goodyear’s 52-week range is $24.31 to $37.20, and it has a consensus target price of $37.00.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) was reinstated as Outperform and assigned a $236 price target (versus a $206.63 close) at Oppenheimer. Humana has a 52-week range of $150.00 to $207.74 and a consensus analyst target price of $224.71.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) tanked after earnings and guidance, and shares were indicated down 21% at $52.11 on Thursday, versus a prior 52-week range of $54.00 to $81.81. Oppenheimer is maintaining an Outperform rating and a $75 price target, but the firm has lowered earnings expectations. Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its target price to $64 from $81. Merrill Lynch downgraded Lululemon to Underperform from Neutral and cut the price objective to $51. Wells Fargo downgraded Lululemon to Market Perform, and Susquehanna cut its rating to Neutral.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS. Shares closed up 4.17% at $28.95 on Wednesday and were indicated up 10 cents at $29.05 on Thursday. Range Resources has a 52-week range of $26.61 to $46.96 and a consensus analyst target of $43.89.

Stocks were indicated lower, with Dow futures down almost 100 points, early on Friday. Before panicking, think about how many days the markets have risen to higher and higher all-time highs. The Dow is now close to 21,000, and the bull market is within days of being eight years old. Investors have bought after every single sell-off for about five years now, and they are looking for new ideas and overlooked opportunities.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Some color has been added on many of the following calls, and the consensus analyst price targets referenced are from Thomson Reuters. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, February 24, 2017:

Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) was reiterated as Underperform but the price target was cut to $60 from $66 (versus a 3.5% drop to a $52.98 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm’s call is on a confirmed pivot to gas diluting its growth with capital spending focused in the Permian. Apache has a 52-week trading range of $36.26 to $69.00 and a consensus analyst price target of $65.47.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) traded down almost 3% to $5.75 on Thursday, and on Friday it was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS. Chesapeake has a 52-week range of $2.53 to $8.20 and a consensus price target of $7.61.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Berenberg, although the firm raised its price target to $190 from $140 in the call. What matters here, despite the call having so low a target (Thursday’s close was $251.19) is that Berenberg had the lowest price target on all of Wall Street. Goldman Sachs has a 52-week range of $138.20 to $252.65, and its consensus price target is $247.88.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, and the firm raised its target to $140 from $109 (versus a $120.70 close). The take is that a slow start to tax season is not enough to get in the way of a solid story with growth coming from small businesses and expanded partnerships with financial institutions.

Yum China Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YUMC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $31.50 price target (versus a $26.77 closing price) at Deutsche Bank.

Follow @Jonogg on Twitter to get analyst calls and research summaries posted directly to your feed.

]]>APABIDUCERNCHKEGNFMSGSGTHPINTUJACKMEOHTEXTHCWWENAdministratorapprove disapproveGoodyear Underwhelms in Q3https://247wallst.com/consumer-products/2016/10/29/goodyear-underwhelms-in-q3/
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 18:10:03 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=360937When Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NASDAQ: GT) reported third-quarter financial results early Friday, the company said it had $1.17 in earnings per share (EPS) and $3.85 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for $1.18 in EPS and revenue of $3.97 billion. In the same period of last year, Goodyear posted EPS of $0.99 and $4.18 billion in revenue.

Overall, Tire unit volumes totaled 42 million, which was essentially flat with 2015 after adjusting for the deconsolidation of Venezuela at the end of 2015. Replacement tire shipments were up 1%. Original equipment unit volume was down 6%.

In the Americas’ segment, third-quarter 2016 sales decreased 14% from last year to $2.1 billion. Sales reflect an 8% decrease in tire unit volume. Replacement tire shipments were down 6%. Original equipment unit volume was down 15%.

In terms of guidance for the 2016 full year, the company now expects its total segment operating income to be between $2.000 billion and $2.025 billion. The consensus estimates call for $4.07 in EPS and $15.47 billion in revenue.

The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share of common stock on September 1. The board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 cents per share payable December 1, to shareholders of record on November 1. As a part of its previously announced $1.1 billion share repurchase program, the company repurchased 1.7 million shares of its common stock for $50 million during the third quarter.

Richard J. Kramer, chairman, CEO and president of Goodyear, commented:

We delivered solid results in the quarter, with a total segment operating margin of 14.5%, which takes our core segment operating income to record levels on a year-to-date basis.

]]>GT247chrislangetired frustrated unhappy business personWhy This Goodyear Dividend Hike Could Get Even Largerhttps://247wallst.com/retail/2016/09/15/why-this-goodyear-dividend-hike-could-get-even-larger/
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 14:20:50 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=352935In a growing industry, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NASDAQ: GT) is looking to take advantage of the key drivers and push profits even higher. The company strengthened this message when it announced its updated financial performance targets and a solid dividend hike.

So what necessarily is driving this market and allowing for Goodyear to make these plays?

CEO Richard Kramer noted that consumers’ affinity for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and other models requiring larger and more complex tires has played to Goodyear’s strengths. The increasing demand for tires with a diameter of 17 inches or more — which have higher profit margins — has boosted the business.

In terms of the financial performance, Goodyear has a $3 billion target for its annual segment operating income in 2020, and a cumulative free cash flow target of $4.3 billion to $4.9 billion from 2017 to 2020.

Overall, management believes that its combination of innovation and technology leadership, industry-leading products and strong global brand provide it with a competitive advantage to deliver on its targets.

At the same time, the company announced that it will return as much as $4 billion to shareholders. As part of this plan, Goodyear is hiking its dividend by 43%, a three-cent raise to $0.10 per share. The increase will take place starting with the December 1 payout.

Looking at the consensus estimates for earnings per share for 2016 and 2017 ($4.08 and $4.32, respectively), the payout for each is between 2.0% and 2.5%. If the company continues to grow according to its targets, we could see rapid expansion in the dividend over the course of the next few years.

]]>GT247chrislangesnow tiresFord Wrecking Ball Runs Up and Down Auto Sectorhttps://247wallst.com/autos/2016/07/28/ford-wrecking-ball-runs-up-and-down-auto-sector/
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 17:25:49 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=345557What happens when Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has its worst trading day in about five years? The talk is that peak auto has been seen, and this has potentially bad implications for not just Ford. It turns out that parts and component makers, car dealerships, even radio systems and interiors have a lot to worry about. This goes much farther than just being a Ford or a Big Three issue.

24/7 Wall St. already covered Ford’s earnings report in depth. It was a problem of guidance, China and some slowing trends, despite total revenues still being higher than in the second quarter of 2015. The commentary about seeing risks challenging achieving guidance and the entire Ford team working to mitigate the risks started this snowball rolling down the hill.

Ford shares were down 9.6% at $12.50 on 91 million shares after three hours of trading on Thursday. Despite another three and a half hours before the close, that was already almost three days worth of volume on an average trading day.

The real question is what it means further down and up the whole supply and retail chain around auto-makers and their tangent areas. Four stocks stood out, which you might expect, or might not suspect, fell with Ford. As a reminder, the Dow was down less than 0.3% and the S&P 500 was down less than 0.1%.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) was lower by 5.5% at $32.34, but it was still not at a full day’s worth of volume yet. Its market cap is $7 billion, and its 52-week trading range is $27.52 to $50.51. BorgWarner makes multiple products for automotive systems and components targeting powertrain and drivetrains.

Group 1 Automotive Inc. (NYSE: GPI) was last seen down 2.5% at $57.53, but on light trading volume. Group 1 has a market cap of almost $1.3 billion and a 52-week range of $47.31 to $97.34. Its consensus analyst price target is $72.50. At the end of 2015, Group 1 owned and operated 199 franchises, 152 automotive dealerships and 35 collision centers, and its sales force represented 32 brands of automobiles.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is an obvious loser here if we have seen peak auto. Still, it already said it has over 25 million subscribers when it reported. Shares were last seen down 1.5% at $4.33. The market cap is $21.2 billion, and the 52-week range is $3.29 to $4.43. Just keep in mind that Sirius XM is almost 100% a North American play, and as long as consumers are buying some cars, chances are high that the company wins — with Ford or without.

]]>BWAFGPIGTSIRIAdministratorsnow tires3 Stocks Unexpectedly Benefiting From Low Gas Priceshttps://247wallst.com/investing/2016/07/13/3-stocks-unexpectedly-benefiting-from-low-gas-prices/
Wed, 13 Jul 2016 11:10:57 +0000http://247wallst.com/?p=342486Conventional analysis and opinion suggested that the reduction in average gas prices in the United States between 2014 and 2015 resulted in an increase in savings and a concurrent reduction in individual debt. Spend less on gas, save more money, or so the common sense deduction. A study just completed by JPMorgan suggests otherwise. Here are three stocks that could benefit based on some key conclusions of the study.

Goodyear

One of the major conclusions drawn was that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the reduction in gas prices had a meaningful impact on individual transportation choices. More people opted to drive their own vehicles than to take public transport, and further, more drivers drove more miles.

Increased mileage leads to increased general wear and tear for vehicles, which means more demand for tires. As a kicker for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NASDAQ: GT), not only is low gas causing an increased demand for new and replacement tires, but rubber prices have collapsed enormously since 2011 and continue to fall. Increased demand and reduced costs is all good for Goodyear.

Regal Entertainment

A second conclusion, and this one flies in the face of the pre-held belief that most people saved the extra cash, was that households spent 34% of their potential gas savings on non-gas goods and services, primarily on restaurants, entertainment and retail. Falling well within the entertainment and leisure sector is the cinema space.

Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) is the largest theater circuit operator in the United States, with around 7,300 screens spread across 600 theaters in 40 states. The stock is up close to 20% on its year open, and as we head into the summer blockbuster period, Regal should pull in healthy revenues during the coming quarter.

As a side note, the JPMorgan report also concluded that while these segments stand to benefit, they are also likely to be the fastest to fall when or if gas prices increase. With this in mind, Regal is likely a much shorter term opportunity than Goodyear.

Shopify

Some 60% of households, according to the study, saved the equivalent of 1% of annual income, averaged out to $477 in savings. Second to entertainment and leisure, in terms of where respondents in the JPMorgan data set said they spent this cash, was online retail. Of course, there are the obvious places like Amazon.com and eBay, but one less obvious alternative is Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP).

The company provides the infrastructure required for setting up online store fronts, and it is primarily a service used by small to medium-sized brick-and-mortar stores to gain an online retail presence. It is a subscription-based service, and as online spending increases, and more retail operations command an online presence through services like Shopify, the company should grow its bottom line.